


Self-Indulgent

by TheTrainTicket



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Other, Tentacles, vanilla sex, very mild but still there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 10:39:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11644833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTrainTicket/pseuds/TheTrainTicket
Summary: I don't understand fishing metaphors.  Semi-sequel to Just Take It.





	Self-Indulgent

**Author's Note:**

> Alternative summary
> 
> Akari: Why are you so interested in me?  
> 96: Idk the wi-fi password

It had all started with a fish.

96 wish that had been the weirdest thing to have ever crossed his mind, but sadly, it was not. It was just simply where he pin-pointed the long chain of events – the part when she got the fish. Not even the kind someone could eat, which would have honestly made a little more sense to him.

He was staring at the thing right now, watching it move back and forth, gracefully throughout the still waters, occasionally dipping lower or higher, as if in some brief anticipation, not acknowledging the fact that it was stuck in this bowl on a computer desk for the rest of its existence.

Shutting his eyes and shaking his head, 96 sat up. That got a little heavy, even for him. It was too early for that sort of thing.

Akari came in a moment later with her usual cup of tea. She waved lightly before taking a seat, and he nodded accordingly.

“The bowl is getting cloudy.” He stated. She took a sip, her eyes motioning towards him, recognizing that he was speaking to her yet making no effort to return it. “How often does it need cleaning?”

A small grin began to form on her face, and 96 had to hold back the urge to roll his eyes. He appreciated her snark a majority of the time, but not when he was being genuine. It had been a simple question. Not that he hadn’t asked plenty of those prior, but she could show a little common curtesy. That wasn’t too much of a demand, all things considered.

Akari reached over to play with her hair, running her fingers through to untangle it a bit.

“You show more concern towards that fish than I do. Honestly, I swear I bought it for you!” She playfully batted at his side. “Scoot, I can’t see him!”

96 obliged, inwardly glad about her newly found comfort in touching him more frequently. Had this been a few weeks ago, Akari would have simply gestured. And he might have listened. But she was at ease and he intended to keep that up.

“It looks fine to me.” She said, tilting her head and squinting. “That bit of haze isn’t really a concern… maybe this weekend I can take care of it.”

Turning back, she booted up her screens, drinking more of her tea while waiting. 96 peered over at the bowl again.

“It’s cloudy.” He repeated firmly. “Do you really not see that, or do you just not want to clean it?”

“It isn’t a big deal, is what I meant.” Her tone remained soft, though she didn’t turn to look at him. These days, it took a bit more to rouse her annoyance. At least she had more patience with 96 than Yuma. “Besides, it would be easier to wait until the weekend.”

“Just sounds like an obligation.” 96 crossed his legs and balanced back on his palms. “Why would you want this thing if it’s an inconvenience?”

Akari typed in her passwords before opening up her browsers and writing programs. “I never said it was one. You said the bowl looked cloudy. I think it looks fine, and I’m happy to see my little fishy swimming around.”

96 nodded, not really in the mood to put up an entire argument. She hadn’t referred to it as ‘her fishy’ since she brought it home. And even back then, he had asked her why the bother.

She had simply shrugged, placing the bowl onto her desk – off to the side, away from her precious screens – and placed her at-the-time bagged fish inside. “Something about it made me feel nostalgic. I get restless sitting up in this room. Be good company when I have to lock out Obomi and Bochan, eh?”

“I thought I was your company?” He was just reiterating a notion he had believed to be true, but she seemed to take it as he had been offended in some way.

Akari gave a weak, almost nervous smile, motioning her hands in a pattern-less fashion. “I mean like… if you’re not around…”

Him staying at the house was a more recent development in his current relationship with Astral and Yuma. Ever since the run-in with Vector, it was decided that he needed to keep a low profile for a while. 96 was pleased that he had manage to lull Astral into a sense of security that he wasn’t deemed a threat to the family, but all the same, he didn’t particularly care for this change. 

Half of him thought Astral was just trying to estrange himself from the Number, after Yuma came so close to finding out about them, but 96 knew his feelings of resentment came mostly in the form of boredom. No one in this household dueled, except for the robot, and he could make even less with that thing than the humans. 

His interest in Akari came about by watching her, a habit he had picked up long before the Vector incident. Her reporting skills had a usefulness. Even if he couldn’t always be out there in the underworld, interacting with criminals and thieves, he at least heard interesting stories about them through her. 

He even managed to sneak out alongside her here and there when a scoop was particularly noteworthy. Her body was easy to slip into whenever he became paranoid that eyes were watching, and as long as he was quick with it and didn’t actively control her actions, she barely noticed. Although he would have to come up with an explanation for Astral on where these new Numbers he came across were popping up from. 

96’s last little defiance against Astral’s new ruling was an introduction to Akari. Not that he actually believed his counterpart would cause him any physical harm, but it would put a damper on the established trust the two had, plus most likely more restrictions, and Astral did indeed possess the power to do just that. 

But he couldn’t resist the thrill of having a secret, no matter how little, kept to himself. Akari had a lot less of a violent reaction to the whole thing than he had anticipated. Once she got used to the idea of a ‘duel spirit’ – as she had dubbed him, and he didn’t feel the need to correct her – was hanging around the house. 

She didn’t know to the full extent what his existence ultimately meant for this world, she thought he was like Astral, and Astral was connected to dueling, so that was that. He had a feeling she didn’t want to question it further, and had merely accepted that there were these creatures in her house because she couldn’t deny her own eyes.

Besides, she was still unaware of the fact that 96 had seen her touching herself that one night. He probably wouldn’t ever tell her that one. Probably.

The was the other thing – she was the only member in this household who had more than an inkling of an idea on what sex was. Or at least the only one there throughout the day who was appealing in that aspect, he was sure the grandma knew a few things, but he truly was not interested in finding out all that.

He felt an exasperated sigh escape from him. Damn, when was the last time he had sex for fun? 96 had been around a handful of duelists, she wouldn’t be the first human he’d slept with, but it had been so long since his last one. Getting with Astral every night was enjoyable, but shaky territory, and what he would give to just sleep around and not worry about his partner’s reaction to it. 

He wouldn’t be Akari’s first either, he could tell by the way she carried herself. But that was a comfort to him, it would also be nice to get with someone who knew what they were doing.

Despite her having essentially nothing to do with his plans in the grand scheme of things, 96 took an interest in Akari. Mostly, he blamed all his time spent hanging around Astral making him more tolerant and curious about the “good-natured” people of this world.

This girl answered his questions, while also understanding the importance of keeping their relationship a secret. Though she did it for more reputational reasons. Apparently, despite dueling being so popular, talking to spirits connected to the cards was not that common. And even though Akari could now see Astral, she kept her mouth shut and tried not to become too involved.

She liked 96. That was really it.

So, she let him lean over her shoulder while inspecting the new fish.

“You’re taking on the responsibility of another life, because it makes you feel good?”

She snickered. “You make it sound so complicated! Lots of people have pets. It’s totally natural! Besides, fish aren’t that difficult to care for.”

“Then why bother at all?”

Akari shrugged, taking a package out of her purse. “It makes me happy? It’s a pretty fish, just that simple?” She ripped the bag and handed it over. “You wanna feed him?”

96 looked at her wrist, to the fish, then back up at her. “Something that tiny needs to eat?”

“Yes or no, my arm’s getting tired.”

He picked it up from her hand. She then instructed him to only pour in a little bit, which he did. The fish swam up, suddenly very excited, furiously devouring the flakes. 96 couldn’t help but smirk at its desperation.

“See? It’s cute.” Akari grabbed at the package and placed it off to the side. This was back before she would touch him. “You can feed him tomorrow if you want.”

96 placed his head onto his arms, resting into them as he gazed at the fish. He stayed there until Yuma and Astral got home. He was half tempted to tell his counterpart about the new pet – he might be the only person to understand the type of confusion 96 was going through. But that would lead to questions, and he wasn’t quite ready to rouse Astral’s suspicions yet.

Not that their relationship had anything worth hiding, but still, all the same.

And here he was again today, like always, because now she was expecting it. He fed the fish, and took a seat next to her screens, watching her type.

“Is it the control aspect?” He asked, watching the fish eat. 

“Eh?” Akari responded, actually turning her head.

96 pointed. “It only gets excited when you feed it.”

“Well, yeah…” she said, side-eyeing her work and adding a few more words. “I guess that’s all a fish really has to be excited about.”

“Right. And that’s due to your influence. It doesn’t even realize how small it’s world is, because that’s all it’s ever known. And then its only form of enjoyment comes from you.”

Akari blinked, scrunching her face and grabbing her cup. “…what?”

He shook his head, not bothering to continue. From what he gathered whenever listening, this was the same sort of attitude Astral received from Yuma. Not that it was exactly a problem, 96 would be a little nervous if this girl was actually smarter than him, but it still left him in the dark.

All he was trying to do was understand why she found this tiny creature fascinating, and yet these ideas never crossed her mind. She just thought it was cute.

“Are… you ok?” she ventured, inching closer to him.

He did let out an annoyed sigh at that. 96 could handle her teasing, but he detested pity.

“96.” Her tone turned sharp, and he glanced over at her. She rarely addressed him by name, and he said hers even less. 

Still somewhat irritated, he decided to humor her a bit. “Human beings make such a big deal about life, but they can never explain why.”

Akari sat up, taken back by his answer. She folded her arms in front of her. “I didn’t realize a fish would cause such a crisis.” She took a deep breath. “Oh… I wouldn’t call it a ‘control’ aspect, more… a nurturing one. I think it’s natural for human beings to want to take care of others. I don’t know how to explain why, though.”

“Right…” he turned back to the fish. Her rationalization was as hollow as he had anticipated.

“I mean….” She continued. “For someone who doesn’t understand, you certainly are fascinated.”

“Isn’t it natural for any creature to want to discover new things? It’s a basic necessity for survival.” He poked at the tips of the water, watching the ripples grow. This startled the fish, causing it to swim around frantically, and strangely, 96’s first reaction was to pull away.

“I suppose. But then, I suppose human interaction is necessary for survival. too. We have to live with each other, after all.”

Now that was new. Still didn’t sound particularly appealing, but at least she gave a logical reasoning. “So, your desire to take care of a pet, extends from your need to interact with other humans?”

“Sounds like a really convoluted reason to buy a fish, but… sure, let’s call it that.”

96 thought about how difficult and how time consuming it was to convince Astral that the Number was worth his time – that they, coming from similar backgrounds, were meant to interact and combine their powers. Those few times he relied on humans and Barians alike to get something he was after. He couldn’t imagine being part of an entire population that needed all that for the simple sake of existing.

“What a nuisance.” 

Akari went silent, and at first 96 hadn’t even noticed. But then she rushed the chair back to her screens, turning completely away.

“You don’t have to be here, you know…”

96 peered over at her. “Huh?”

She just maintained her focus on the computers.

“Hey.” He called over, not appreciating being ignored. “What did you mean by that?”

A huff came first, such an attitude he wasn’t too accustomed with, not even around Yuma. Still, she didn’t look at him.

“You just called human interaction a nuisance. If I’m annoying you so much, you can just leave!”

Oh, he had offended her. Dammit… it truly was a nuisance, but still, he couldn’t exactly back out now. If she carried a grudge against him, that would cause trouble around the house. He couldn’t wipe her memory of him without taking away all of them from the last prior weeks. There may be a chance to fake some sort of accident around that, but he would save it as a last resort.

He wondered then, even vaguely, if he could possess her. By now, he had picked up on enough of her habits that he doubted Astral or Yuma would notice. But they would question where 96 himself had gone off to.

Besides, he had nothing better to do around the house. For now.

“I didn’t mean you. I meant as a general whole.” He started, choosing his words carefully, making sure it was what she wanted to hear. “It’s easy being around you.”

The way she turned towards him and the way her lips pursed indicated that her irritation hadn’t been appeased. Rather than taking it any further, however, she just rolled her eyes.

“I guess I can’t totally expect a one-of-a-kind creature to fully understand.”

He felt as if she had meant to insult him somehow with that comment, but really, he just wished her words rang more truth.

“Almost one-of-a-kind.” He replied.

When she looked over at him again, there was less aggression from her demeanor. “It really bothers you so much that there’s one other like you?”

96 shifted a little. He didn’t like getting personal, and he liked talking about Astral with others even less, but she was calming down, so he kept it up. “Not really. Just that…he seems to have a bit more of a purpose than me.” He redirected the conversation then. “Do you ever get that way?”

Akari blinked. “I…”

“I don’t really expect you to understand completely.” He confessed.

“No, I…” she interrupted. “I actually think I do?”

“Oh?”

Scooting her chair, he assumed she was trying to get closer to him, but instead, she went along over to the fish bowl, tracing her finger along the glass, which the small animal followed.

“Not so much, upset, per say…” she went on. “But – feeling second best? I know that feeling.”

96 tilted his head. He actually hadn’t known this side to Akari. Which was very odd, considering he knew a handful of her secrets, not only through talking, but also during his brief possessions of her. She must have held that one deep, deep down.

“You mean about Yuma?”

Akari nodded. “I haven’t really felt it since we were kids. I tried really hard not to, but just… with our parents saying he was destined for greatness, I just… I never held it against him, honest!” She glanced up at him, her eyes pleading for him not to judge her. As if he would. Jealousy was a beautiful emotion. “I’m happy for him, I just – I want to make my parents proud, too.”

She curled up into herself then, wrapping her arms around her waist and bending in, staring down at the floor.

96 took a moment to acknowledge that he was probably the first and only person to have heard her say these words. From what he gathered, her grandma didn’t view her in a much different light from their parents, and announcing to several people that she held a certain amount of jealousy towards her little brother was probably not something she was longing to do.

But that’s just what he was good at – getting people to admit those dark feelings they refused to shed light on. He’d had plenty of practice with Astral on such matters. This would have been the part where 96 would have gone over and held onto Astral, giving him words of encouragement. But he wasn’t quite at that level with Akari. Not yet.

Instead, he merely leaned over and placed a hand on her head.

“Don’t tell Yuma…” she whispered.

“I’m not going to.” 

She stared up at him then, an intense look in her eyes. As if, for some reason, at this exact moment, it completely crossed her mind that it was just the two of them alone in this room. There was nothing particularly special about this moment, beyond her attempts at connecting with him on a more emotional level. It was a very vulnerable moment, and it seemed to have broken down a wall she had built.

And it had all started with a conversation on a fish.

There was something on her mind, something she had been wanting to bring up, yet still held back. He had seen that look a million times before, from her, from Astral, from anyone who wanted anything to do with this creature they didn’t understand.

But she said nothing more about whatever she was thinking on. Humans were erratic like that, and 96 had anticipated the notion. At least she’d finally given him the look, he was starting to think she viewed him as a child, what with his constant questions.

He didn’t find humans ‘attractive’ in the traditional sense of the word – hell, as someone who could mold around his own form, 96 didn’t really care what anything ‘looked’ like. His selection on partners had more to do with touch, than anything. He knew he’d enjoy touching her curves, knew she’d be soft, so soft, and that her hair would be fun to play with. Just holding his palm up against it had been nice. He knew what her body felt like from a first-person perspective, and that had been pleasant, albeit short, experiences, and he wanted to know what feeling up this form externally would be like as well.

And she would give him that same look and he would see all that passion and spirit she was hiding underneath this demeanor of a well-mannered reporter with a slight temper. That spite was something neither her brother or Astral had, and he found it completely refreshing.

In that sense, 96 thought Akari was cute. 

All these ideas still floated around in his head, as he told himself it was a matter of time, he couldn’t rush into things, she wasn’t stupid – but he found he was thinking of them more out of habit rather than actual desire. It was unusual for him to hang around with a human like this during the day. But she wasn’t a duelist, so he couldn’t just bribe her in his usual manner. 

But if he could handle Astral, then a human wouldn’t be difficult to break down. It was good to know that this girl, no matter how little or how different in basic fashion, was thinking about him the same way he thought about her.

As for now, however, she simply stood from her chair and headed over to the door.

“I’m going to make some lunch. Come with me.”

He wouldn’t have denied going, but he took note that the request was more a demand than anything. 96 liked that she was taking such comfort in him. 

The two headed for the kitchen. Normally, Akari would go ahead and whip together her meal for the day, and 96 would sit back and watch. But he was feeling confident today. So, as she began boiling her rice, he came from behind and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. It was a simple gesture, nothing that would upset more than the basic testing of waters, and one she could easily break from if it made her too uncomfortable.

All she did was smile, exhale a little sharper than normal, and pulled her hair from under his grip, letting it rest behind him. There was the very heavy urge to run his fingers through it, but he held back on that one. Just in case.

“You’re using chicken today?” he commented as she added in more ingredients. “Giving up on fish now that you own one?”

“I think we’re just out…” she replied. “And no, I’m not really planning on giving up eating anything.”

“Do humans only keep cute things as pets, then?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s how the logic works… I don’t know, it depends on the environment, really.”

He nodded, the motion allowing his head to rub along her neck, and he felt her shiver just the slightest bit.

“You really do like that fish…” she said all too quickly, moving along with her food. He smirked at her attempts to change subjects and hide her feelings.

“It’s just a curiosity.” He stated. “Most humans I know don’t own pets.”

Akari snickered. “I’m glad you find my fish more amusing than mobsters.”

Oh yeah. There was that last little tidbit. 96 couldn’t believe he actually lucked out in being honest about that aspect of his past. The only reason he had been truthful about it was after spending time in her mind. Akari, he found, had a bit of a hard-on for that sort of thing. She was a reporter, they were juicy scoops, is what she claimed, but he saw right past that. 

She had been fascinated by 96’s stories about his time with gangs, how they had obtained other Number cards. They were in the past, their connections were useless at this point, he’d never been this close to Astral and he certainly wasn’t leaving, no matter how bored he ever became. So he gave her enough information to expose them. It had meant something major towards Akari’s job and rather than become on edge over his criminal record, she had fallen right into his lap.

It was all so cute.

That was the appeal she had over her family members, the main reason he found himself drawn to her. Yes, Yuma was a strong duelist (with Astral’s aid) who got himself into a handful of trouble. But he never enjoyed that aspect. He just did what he had to because he felt some misplaced sense of self-righteousness and helping out his friends. Akari… she felt an edge. She’d never admit it, but this sort of thing was a thrill to her.

She really liked 96.

“It’s pretty quiet, I just noticed.” He remarked. “Is your grandma out?”

“I think so. She did mention something about having lunch with an old friend, yesterday…”

He clung just a little tighter to her, and she didn’t freak out. Her food finished cooking, and she scooped it over into a bowl before starting to make way back to her room. As she was about to exit the kitchen, 96 floated around and in front of her, his hands moving but staying against her, stopping Akari in her tracks.

She looked as if she wanted to ask something, but instead bit her lower lip, her tongue sticking out just the tiniest bit. He smirked at that, bringing his hand up and resting the palm against her cheek. This made her breathing hitch, but she didn’t protest, and at that he stroked his thumb gently. For a second, her eyes widened, then sunk in, hardening, giving him the same look from earlier.

“You have a really nice face.” She noted, nodding slightly, satisfied with her words.

96 just continued to grin. He knew people found his appearance odd – he didn’t resemble anything from any particular world. They ultimately found him attractive after the initial shock, but most of the seduction usually came from his position of power. It didn’t matter ultimately, but for her to admit such a thing meant she had reached a new level of security with him.

“You have a nice face, too.” He replied, meaning it. Her determined, passionate, longing expression was amusing to watch. Feeling even more confident, 96 went ahead and ran his fingers along her bangs a few times, loving how silky the locks felt against him.

She pulled back slightly, not to get away from his touch, but rather to bring up her free arm and gesture a bit.

“Just… such nice bone structure, I’m so jealous…” her hand balled up, and she placed her knuckles to her lips. Then she pointed. “You gotta let me try putting make-up on you sometime.”

“Alright.”

Akari placed both hands onto her bowl. “Um… my food’s getting cold.”

Without a word, 96 brought down his hand, and hovered to the side, allowing her to pass. She gave a half-hearted smile, though, motioning for him to follow. 

That was her attempt at trying to kill the tension. That’s what she was supposed to do. She had to consider what society would think in terms of this. So much so that she wouldn’t even discuss the topic out loud. He almost pitied the useless concept, but he really had no place to judge, since his main worry was Astral and his thoughts on the exact same matter.

Responsibilities sucked.

Granted her desires were more based around an emotional need for stability – something he had guessed from her impulsive action of buying a pet – and that he’d have to work around. He couldn’t rely solely on the need to be touched the way he did with Astral, but Akari definitely had her own demands to be met. He had known that from the first night. Most humans had those basic of basic urges, and 96 certainly knew how to appeal to them.

At the door to her room, Akari paused. Her hands were on the bowl still, and she shifted her legs. 96 waited for her to speak.

“You’re… you’re really nice to hang out with.” She went on, staring down at the doorknob. “I mean, I know I’m not the most interesting person, I don’t duel and I’m always working, and you have that… Pale-Six to talk to…”

That was her name for Astral. He had told her what it really was, but she still insisted on the nickname. It cracked 96 up so hard, he would definitely let this all come to light eventually, if only for the look his counterpart would make at it, but also, he enjoyed that someone thought of him as the original, and Astral as the copy.

“…But I appreciate that instead you spend your time with me.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder again, pressing into it. 

“It’s easy.” He replied. “I mean, these days it’s mostly for the fish, but…”

Her giggling interrupted him at that point. A light flush washed over her cheeks as she pulled her bangs behind her ear. “If only getting a pet was a typical way for nabbing a boyfriend…”

“Oh?” At his inquiry, her blush became deeper, but her expression showed that she regretted her choice of words. That confused 96 – humans got so weird when it came to this sort of thing. If people liked each other, what was to be embarrassed about? Emotions couldn’t be helped. 

She pulled away from him, covering up her face. “It… it’s just been a long time!” Turning around, she opened the door and headed in, muttering something about how her grandma was always making comments about husbands and such.

But he enjoyed how flustered she was getting. 

“Is that what you want?” He asked.

Akari put the food down and drummed her fingers along the desk. “I mean… I suppose… I’m supposed to, right?”

“Not really. But I guess that’s easier for me to say than you.”

She nodded. “I would like to, though. I mean… I miss having someone around. That way, I mean.”

“Of course.”

“Do you?”

He blinked. “What?”

“Want that?”

The question caught 96 off-guard. She was looking right at him, food completely forgotten. 

“Never really crossed my mind…” he floated closer in. “Not exactly something you can tell grandma about, right?”

“Yeah…” her head turned down, fingers still playing with her bangs.

“Or Yuma.”

“Right…” she cleared her throat. “But still… would you?”

What was she playing at? Was she really so lonely that she was actually considering a relationship with him? Friendship was supposed to be a big deal, and that’s what she believed they were, so why wasn’t that enough?

Maybe he was the one who lacked understanding, however. 96 was many things – from astral world, from Barian world, a Number… and yet, the one thing he wasn’t was human. But these creatures left such an influence on all of them.

He just shrugged. She thought it was so adorable when he was ignorant, why not play up to that?

“It never crossed my mind. I don’t know what else to say?”

She bit her lip again. “Would you say that we’re friends?”

“Yeah.” 

“Like Yuma and Pale-Six?”

“Sure.”

She nodded, hands on her hips, still not looking up at him. “Ok. That’s good. I can live with that.”

Her lack of gaze was starting to bother him. She had just given him the most pleasant look, too. Twice.

96 leaned in, pressing his forehead to hers. She let out a tiny gasp, but at least he had her full attention.

“Akari.” He stated, making her blink. “What you’re feeling is alright, you know? Feelings are never wrong. They’re the only honest aspect to us. Underneath all this social expectation and reputations, all the lies people tell each other, what separates us as a species, we all feel and we can’t help what those feelings turn out to be.”

Her lip quivered slightly. He closed his eyes, the sight getting to be too much.

“I see…” she went on, turning her head down so her bangs flipped up and her skin touched his. “It’s like… we’re so different, we’re from such different planes of existence… but we can feel the same way.”

“Yeah.”

“We… we can be the same…”

He nodded, brushing their noses. He wanted the talking to stop, but he was also waiting on her. His patience was working to his benefit, however, because he felt her moving to look back up, and opened his eyes again.

“96…” she reached forward and grabbed onto his cheeks, as if holding him in place, a level of control she wasn’t used to, as attributed by the way she shivered. But her lips hit his, and he just let her do whatever she wanted.

Their teeth clacked a bit, her movements far too rushed. The heavy level of desperation she felt was showing through, whether that was against her wishes or not. Her lips were dry and somewhat chapped, probably from biting them earlier, but they were still very soft. 96 opened his mouth a bit, wrapping around her lower lip and sucking on it. He wanted to put his arms against her waist and finally feel out her body, but he settled for putting them behind her head, playing with her hair.

And then her computers started beeping.

Akari practically threw herself off of him, spinning around and dashing into her chair, pulling up the screens. 96 remained there, hovering, blinking, still feeling the imprint of her lips.

“What just happened?” He asked once he regained his composure, floating over to her shoulders.

“We kissed!” She snapped, typing furiously.

“I meant with this.” He pointed at the blaring screen. “What’s the emergency?”

“Oh!” Akari cleared her throat, face still utterly flushed. “Just… a robbery, or something…”

“Just?” He couldn’t help but snicker. Undermining crime was normally his attribute.

She glared at him, but quickly turned back to her computers. He kept smiling at her failed attempts to hide her red cheeks. There would be a talk about this later, that was certain, and he wasn’t exactly anxious in regards to it.

Akari snapped her fingers. “Hand me my bowl, please! No – no! No, I’ll do it, forget I asked.”

She reached over and started stuffing her face with one hand, typing away with the other. 96 was positive that if he touched her at this exact moment, she’d jump. An amusing thought, but he resisted.

“The day’s half over, and I’ve barely gotten anything done!” she muttered to herself, putting her food down and starting to hit the keyboard with both hands. “Yuma’s gonna be home soon, not to mention Bochan, just…”

“Are you alright?”

“Of course I am!” She threw her arms up, bits of rice flying from her fingers. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You want me to feed the fish?”

“It’s up to you…”

96 hovered over to the table, when he heard a sniffle. Oh, lord. That conversation may have to happen sooner rather than later. He ripped open the bag, waiting for her to say something, or not, maybe she hadn’t meant for him to hear that.

Sprinkling in the flakes and watching the fish frantically feed, he noticed from the corner of his eye her chair scooting back.

“Hey, um…”

He turned his head. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry.”

96 propped himself up, folding his arms and resting against the wall. “For what?”

Akari waved her hand around at nothing in particular, blinking a few times before pressing against her forehead. Tears weren’t dripping down her cheeks, but her eyes glistened. If it were Astral, 96 would’ve had to have gone over and wiped them, tell him everything was fine. What was he supposed to do with Akari?

He didn’t necessarily need to comfort her. It was all just…rather pathetic. But so were his actions. He could’ve stayed hidden up in that room, or watch this girl from a distance, collecting Numbers while keeping Astral under close range. 

Instead he was here with her and a fish.

“Let’s go out tonight.” He suggested. Anything to escape this house.

A quick dab at her eyes, and Akari turned her head. “Huh?”

96 shrugged. “Say it’s for some kind of research and let’s just take the night off.”

“Won’t Pale-Six wonder where you’ve run away to?”

Yes.

But she wasn’t the only one in need of a break.

“Let me worry about him, ok?” She leaned back against her chair, rolling it over closer to where he was sitting. He reached out and placed a hand against her cheek. 

Her eyes widened a bit. “You mean it?”

“Of course.” He turned his gaze slightly. “Can we bring the fish?”

She giggled slightly, and he frowned. It was a legitimate question. Akari must’ve realized it after looking back up at his face. 

“Sorry, um… there really aren’t a lot of places that allow pets.”

“Damn…” he stated, pulling back. “Guess we’ll have to get that Obomi robot to feed him tonight.”

She nodded, touching where he had put his hand. “I could also call Bochan, or… even have Yuma do it, maybe… whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Comfortable. Hmph. Not a lot of people saw him in that light. 

“You know what’s so funny about you, Akari?” 96 interjected.

She blinked, cocking her head. “Funny?”

“I’m the most powerful of the Numbers, and you don’t even care. You’re not even a duelist.”

Her head bent more to the side as she gave him a very confused look. “Why are you bringing this up?”

“Because you want me to be comfortable. Most people who want that have some ulterior motive.”

“Hmm…” she responded. “And do you?”

“Do what?”

“Have an ulterior motive?”

96 mulled over her question. “I wouldn’t really call it ‘ulterior’ after the way you kissed me.”

Akari coughed loudly, hands flying up over her face.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” He continued. “It’s what you wanted, right? That’s all that matters.”

Her fingers parted, and she peered through over to him. “Did you want that, too, then?”

“I really hope the answer is obvious by now.”

Her cheeks somehow turned even redder, but her hands dropped into her waist. “I know I’m awkward… it’s been a long time for me.”

“Yeah, me too.” He didn’t like disclosing it, but there wasn’t much to hold back at this point.

“Then…maybe it’s not such a good idea.”

96 blinked. “Is that what you want?”

Akari stood up, walking around behind her chair, gripping onto it with remarkable force. “Does that even matter? How am I supposed to feel? I’m trying to go after my career, but then my Bochan is constantly pressuring me about a husband, but the last guy to show much interest in me was my dad’s friend, and he and my mom are gone, so I need to be there for Yuma, and I don’t know what I’m doing! And now I’m talking to… a duel spirit!”

“About sex.”

“Yes!” She yelled, hastily covering her mouth and attempting to regain her composure. “You don’t have to say it out like that… but yes.”

He smirked, folding his arms. “Feel better?”

“Actually, yeah, a bit, I do…”

“Good.” He picked himself up and floated over to her. “You feel good. What’s so wrong about that?” 

She had her arms folded in front of her, then tried to turn away from him again, but 96 placed a hand under her chin and brought her gaze up. There was something about her actions that vaguely reminded him of Astral. Her reluctance and assurance that her feelings didn’t matter over the sake of duty or social expectations. It was a mindset that always genuinely confused him. Must be a “do-gooder” thing. 

Nothing actually mattered or had any real meaning – might as well just do what felt good.

“I mean it.” He stated. “You humans are so fickle when it comes to emotions, but it’s the only thing you and I have in common.”

“I know.” She undid her arms, standing up straight so their eye levels met. “It’s not that I don’t want to, or anything. I’m just… scared.”

“Of what?”

He wasn’t so desperate that he felt the need to force her into it. All things considered, he was being extremely patient. He really did chalk it up to the fact that she would be his first non-duelist. Lacking that upper hand made it somewhat more of a challenge, and, in a strange way that was satisfying. He inwardly chuckled. He was spending way too much time around Astral.

“I mean…” Akari stepped back, out of his reach. “What happens afterwards?”

96 brought in his hand and placed a finger to his chin in thought. “Well, if you’re not working for the rest of the evening, we could still go out. Or just sit down for a movie…”

“That’s not what I meant!”

Her annoyance was somewhat unexpected. He was just making suggestions, nothing to get so worked up about. 

“What I mean is…” she fiddled around with her hair. He really wished she’d stop fidgeting and talk to him properly. At least when Astral got flustered, he still managed to hold a conversation. “What will our relationship be afterwards?”

Oh.

He should’ve known. Humans got so touchy about this subject. As if sex actually changed anything. It was the same as them doing anything else, like going out or watching television. It was a pastime, just more preferable with people you liked. But humans tended to think that it meant something deeper. That one type of relationship meant more than another.

“I imagine we’ll still be friends.”

“Friends?”

“Well I don’t anticipate that we’ll hate each other afterwards. What else could we be? Besides, you just said you could live with being only that.”

She sighed, but nodded. “You’re right.” And then, strangely, she smiled. “You know what’s so funny about you, 96?”

“What?” His tone wasn’t even sarcastic, he legitimately had no idea what she was about to say.

“We met basically because of Yuma, and yet… our relationship has nothing to do with him.” Her grin faded, as if she regretted the words already. But she was being so open this entire morning, she couldn’t help it.

“And why do you bring that up?” He asked, this time a little more playfully. He wasn’t going to let her go silent on an answer.

“I just…” her hands went up to her forehead and she exhaled deeply. “This is going to sound awful, but just… so much of my life revolves around Yuma, I… it’s my own fault always getting him involved with getting scoops for me, but it can’t really be helped, you know? And I… I don’t know, you and me… it’s nice to have something that’s… on my own terms.”

96 nodded. Admittedly, she held the same placeholder to him. Everything he did revolved around Astral, she was his break from that.

“Am I horrible for thinking that way?” She asked, probably more to herself than to 96. “Am I even making any sense?”

“You just want to live your own life.” He reassured. “It’s a control aspect. Everything wants that.”

And they stared at each other. A million words lingered between them, but at the moment, neither cared for any of it.

Then she stepped forward, grabbed onto 96’s forearm, and pulled him along.

“No offense, but I really don’t want the fish watching us. You any good at keeping quiet?” She asked, opening the door and stepping out. 

He let out a laugh at that, thinking back to him moaning and yelling as he and Astral got off right next to her. “No!”

“Ok, then we’re gonna have to make this fast, because I don’t know when Bochan is getting back.”

He almost mentioned that it didn’t matter, her grandma wouldn’t be able to hear him. But she probably figured that and had momentarily forgotten. Or she was loud herself. He really hoped it was the second one.

She led him to her bedroom, and 96 felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him. The initial lust had been so simple in the beginning. Just a cute girl, right there in close proximity. He hadn’t intended for things to get complicated, but being back here was already starting to make it all worth doing.

He remembered the hushed tone of her voice as she tried to muffle out her whimpers…

“So, um…” his thoughts were interrupted, and he noticed that she had already removed her vest, and was starting to unbuckle her belt. At least she wasn’t self-conscious about her body. “I’ve never been with a duel spirit before, what’s it like?”

96 chuckled a little. “It’s pretty similar to sleeping with a human. Just better.”

Akari rolled her eyes. “Right. That doesn’t answer anything, but thank you.”

He just kept right on laughing. “Relax. You’re not my first, I know what to do.”

“You’re so full of yourself…” she poked his stomach, rather roughly, catching him completely by surprise, making his reaction all the bigger.

He tried to play it off, though, fighting the urge to rub at his abdomen. “Like you don’t enjoy that!”

She shook her head in mild annoyance, grabbing at her shirt, stopping when it was halfway up. “Did you wanna undress me, or?”

96 shrugged. “It’s all the same. Honestly, nudity isn’t much of a turn on for me.”

“Yeah, I can imagine.” She replied, pulling the shirt completely off and throwing it to the ground. “So, what exactly is a turn on for someone like you?”

“Total submission.”

Akari’s eyes widened, shifting around, undecided on whether that was utterly terrifying or just faintly hot. He noticed the mixed reaction.

“I didn’t exactly mean from you.”

She bit her lip, mildly hiding the fact that she was smiling. Bending forward slightly, she reached behind herself to unhook her bra. “Well that’s good...”

It was tossed as carelessly as the shirt. He maintained eye contact with her, rather than roam over her figure, and he could tell from the expression she had that she found it refreshing.

“Um, I should have asked this before taking off my clothes,” she started, fiddling with her pants. “I’m like, not gonna get pregnant or an STD from this somehow, am I?”

96 shook his head. It wasn’t the first time he’d been asked such a thing. “I don’t carry diseases, and I’m sterile.” He brought up his hands and waved them in a playful, dramatic fashion. “The joys of being one-of-a-kind!”

Akari smiled half-heartedly, then stepped up to him. “You wanna try that kiss again? I’m actually pretty good when I’m not so flustered.”

“I believe that…” he leaned down, this time having no problems with wrapping his arms around her and pulling in close. Her skin was incredibly smooth and soft, with a bit of firmness around her muscles, just as he had hoped.

Then on her part, she went ahead and put her arms around his torso, feeling around as well. He felt her arms travel up, then in, around into his shoulders, up to his hair, and tickling at it. Their eyes remained half open, and she watched him with caution. She parted her lips a bit so he could bring her lower one into his mouth. 

He pulled back from her, bringing his lips instead to her neck, causing her breath to hitch. He wasn’t getting over how soft she was. He couldn’t remember the last time he was with someone so soft. He brought a hand around, down along her stomach, where he felt her shiver, and slipped down inside her pants, passed her underwear.

She gasped, but only brought herself closer, her fingers clinging and scratching him slightly. He pressed against her skin, between her labia to where her clitoris was, and started rubbing at it gently. In a reflex reaction, her legs clenched against his touch. 

Her breathing was hard, but she managed to sputter out, “So… how exactly do we…?”

“I have tendrils if you prefer to be penetrated, otherwise I get about as sensitive as you do in the same areas.”

He felt her nod along the top of his head, and he went back to kissing at her neck. She reached down to pull at her pants, and he turned his hand to yank away at her panties. He didn’t resist looking down to see if they were the same pair she had worn the first night he had spent watching her. They weren’t, but that was alright. She kicked away her remaining garments and led them both over to the bed, sitting down onto it, pulling him into her.

“The ponytail stays.” She stated firmly.

“Of course.”

Giving him a small grin, she set herself back against the headboard, keeping herself propped up, spreading her legs with her knees arced towards her. He got down and scooted in close, only for Akari to spin him around and press his back to her chest. She gave his neck a quick peck before placing her hands onto his torso, rotating around where nipples would have been, then let them trail down to his legs, rubbing along his thighs. He sighed deeply, relaxing into her, allowing her legs to incases him, enjoying the feeling of her hands exploring him.

He was already all worked up by the time she placed her hand between his legs, rotating her fingers as he had on her. She started really pushing up against him with her middle finger, and after a moment of consideration, he melded around her, causing Akari to gasp.

“Is that supposed to happen?” Despite the question, she didn’t stop her motions.

“Yeah,” he answered calmly, leaning so their cheeks touched and he could peer over at her from the corner of his eye. “You aren’t going to hurt me, if that’s your concern. I’ve been with much rougher than you. Did you make up your mind yet, by the way?”

“You mentioned tendrils…” she started. “Like, how intimidating is that?”

He smirked, taking a hold of her wrist to make sure she kept it in place as he extended himself. She shivered again as she gripped onto the new appendage.

“Oh fuck, it wiggles…” she said, and he couldn’t hold back his laughter at that.

“You really are adorable.” He pushed himself up, her hand falling off as he turned around, her eyes roaming over his body with much more curiosity than he had for hers. “It’s not bad, I promise. It’ll conform to your shape.”

She brought up her hand and flexed it. “It kinda squished when I held it. That doesn’t hurt?”

“No.” 96 reaffirmed. “I’ve already said, you won’t hurt me.”

“Will you?”

“Not my intention.” At the moment.

“Guess I’ll just have to take the risk, then.”

“Don’t lie – that’s exactly why you’re doing this.”

They both leaned in for a kiss, he grabbed at her hair and gave it a small tug as she tried to wrap her legs around him, but he stopped her, pulling back and pressing her thighs together, and setting them so they lay against the mattress while she still sat up. Her legs had clenched together when he first started touching her, so he figured she needed that.

She was still exposed to him, so he went down, pushing back her pubic hair to get a good look at her clitoris, which was swollen at this point. 96 licked at it cautiously, she flinched and grabbed harshly onto the sheets, gritting her teeth. He let his tongue run around inside her labia, pushing in and out of her, giving her clitoris a running pass over rather than making it the central focus. 

“96…” was all she could manage to get out before coming into his mouth. He licked at his lips, letting his fingers replace his tongue as he sat up. Her face was flushed and sweaty.

His hand moved from between her legs up to her stomach, feeling around against her lower abdomen. He knew he had found her G-spot when she pushed herself up into his touch. Pressing down even harder, he rotated along there for a bit longer, letting her enjoy it as he brought his tendril up and against her.

“Ready?”

She nodded, one of her hands up at her lips as she bit down at a knuckle. After a moment of nothing, however, she took it out and looked up at him.

“I said it’s ok…”

“I know.” He reassured. “I said it would conform to your shape.”

Akari opened her mouth to say something, but quickly gritted her teeth and shut her eyes as her G-spot was hit from the inside. His tendril melded so perfectly to her, that she hadn’t even felt it enter. But she definitely felt it hitting against her, and he could certainly feel all of her.

96 hadn’t penetrated anyone for a long, long time. She was so warm and slick, clenching and unclenching around him. Those noises she was making were so deliciously erotic, once again putting him back to that first night. It was every bit as fun as he imagined it would.

Pressing their foreheads against each other, he increased his speed inside her, letting another, smaller tendril come out and play around her clitoris, causing her to actually cry out and then hurriedly place a hand over her mouth.

He grinned – he was really doing so little and so basic, yet she was extremely easy to turn into such a frenzy. But he was just that good. He knew. Everyone who had ever been with him knew.

96 finally gave some attention to her breasts, taking them into his palms and massaging, playing around with the nipples. She responded well to all of it.

Feeling a bit more daring, he pulled at the hand she wedged inside her mouth, replacing it with his own. Taking the hint, Akari went ahead and bit down against his flesh. Good – she remembered what he had said. 

What he’d give to have Astral use a little teeth on him.

But, she wasn’t on the same level as Astral. Not quite. Akari was somewhere in the middle. Still upholding the amount of responsibility and duty as any astral being, but with the compassion and empathy of a human. And yet, she got a thrill out danger and risky lifestyles – not like Barians, except Vector, maybe. She enjoyed it as 96 did. She was some strange place in between, just like him.

Inwardly, he snickered at himself and his strong defense over why he liked her so much. She was just cute. He supposed he was used to Astral’s good nature, how preferable it could be to criminals. How much easier it was to manipulate. He didn’t even need an incentive to get her to comply – she liked him.

One day he’d have to see how she would feel in regards to choking him…

She tapped against his hand and he let up.

“Too rough…” she breathed.

He kissed at her temple, brushing her bangs back, pressing their cheeks together as he slowed down his pace. Her eyes opened and she looked up at him. Her face was so helpless. He could do whatever he wanted to her, but still he held back. That was the trade-off with these “do-gooders”. They were honest and trustworthy – to an extent – but that trust had to be earned. It wasn’t like with criminals or Vector where they all knew they’d kill each other at any given chance.

But he wanted her anyway.

Cute.

“Hey, umm…” she brought her legs up, repositioning herself slightly. “Do you mind backing off a little? I kinda wanna touch myself.”

“I can get that for you.”

“I know, but it’s been a while, and I just… would be more comfortable…”

“Right. Sure.”

He brought in the tendril that had been rubbing up against her clitoris, and she slid her hand down between her legs to reach at it. 96 wrapped his arms around her waist, and she took hold of one his hands, bringing it to her lips and giving his knuckles a kiss. 

They nuzzled in tighter as he brought the pace back up. He felt her muscles start to tense around him. It was a very good thing 96 had high stamina, because otherwise Astral might have become suspicious if he went back tonight tired and sore. All the same, he decided to just finish her off and let that be that. They were on a time restraint, as well.

It wasn’t too surprising that she bit her lip to stifle back a cry. He wondered if he had managed to get her out, to a place where it would be just them, uninterrupted, if she would really let loose and cut out. He’d definitely have to keep that in mind. She was every bit as fun as he’d anticipated, and he was eager to test out the boundaries even further.

When it was over and he had pulled out, Akari spun her body around to pressed against him, which he didn’t mind. 96 closed his eyes and held her close. He thought about Astral and Yuma finding out, realizing how much she had enjoyed it, how they’d probably want him to stop but Akari herself would interject and say it was her life and that they weren’t allowed to meddle with it. It made him grin. People wanting him, in anyway, always had that effect on him.

Then, for some reason, he thought of what would happen if Vector ever found out. The bastard was still on the prowl for him, so, in all honesty it was a very real possibility, especially if they were to go out and around town. Would he look down on 96 for it? See it as a vulnerability? It was one thing to put on an act for Astral and Yuma, two enemies he was keeping close, it was another to just… want this human.

And again, he found himself needing to defend it. He didn’t feel like he needed a deep reason – it was fun to do so little and watch her react so greatly, she was cute, and she didn’t even realize that – 

Oh.

96 shifted a bit, and she looked up at him, mild concern in her eyes. But she didn’t have anything to be worried about. Not really.

“So,” he started, still allowing her to cling onto him. “If we’re not doing anything the rest of the night, the fish bowl still needs cleaning.”

She rolled her eyes, but laughed, as if relieved and yet expectant all at once. “Oh, let me shower first, babe.”

Letting go, Akari pulled herself up from the bed, grabbing her clothes and a hairbrush before opening the door to her bathroom. Then she stopped, and turned back.

“Hey 96?” he perked up at his name. She blushed again, but still held a smile. “Thanks. Like… for everything.”

He smirked, tilting up to look over at her better. “Of course, pet.”


End file.
